Some lucky students at MacArthur Middle School in Fort Meade were the recipients of valuable, professional grooming services and just in time to spruce up for the new year, compliments of Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation.
The Foundation serves populations with obstacles preventing access to regular grooming services. It was a generous grant from a supportive donor group that enabled this non-profit organization to provide a local public school with a full-service barber/beauty shop, installed onsite. Invitations to apply were issued to schools demonstrating a portion of their student body without access to basic grooming. MacArthur Middle School responded with an estimated 20% of its students having barriers to regular grooming services, making them the fifth school to be selected to benefit from the foundation’s intervention.
Robert Cradle is the inspiration and founder of Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation. The owner of a local barbershop from 1991 until 2003, Cradle identified a need for basic grooming skills at a homeless shelter only blocks away.
“The volunteer coordinator from Sarah’s House transitional shelter on Fort Meade came into my shop to get a haircut,” Cradle recalled. “After a brief conversation, I decided I would raise money using a collection box to pay my barbers to groom their clients. My customers actually responded well to the idea so I decided to turn it into a full-blown organization that would access more agencies that might possibly serve populations with barriers to regular grooming services.”
Coincidentally, during that same period, Cradle had an interest in resource development and non-profit management. Now an opportunity had presented itself to put his newfound training to good use, hands-on.
“I wanted to stick to solving problems that are commensurate with my previous and current education and training,” said Cradle.
“I had been a licensed barber since 1986,” he continued. “When combined with my new training in resource development and non-profit management/leadership it pushes you to address community problems using your current skills and abilities.”
The MacArthur Grooming Project was conceived from a $10,000 donation from The Meltzer Group Employee Giving Fund, a diversified, comprehensive insurance brokerage, which was awarded to Cradle’s group in December 2018. In addition to installing and manning the grooming station in MacArthur Middle School, the foundation previously managed similar projects at two schools in Baltimore as well as two Anne Arundel County Schools and one school in Washington, D.C. But more than half of the 33 projects the foundation operated over the last 19 years have involved people in shelters like Sarah’s House and other similar facilities. \\
Occasionally it will provide services to individuals on a one-time basis.
“We are able to serve individuals who are unable to get into shelters when we participate with AA Counties’ annual Homeless Resource Day,” Cradle said. “On that day we have a portable haircutting set-up to groom individuals who are bussed in from local shelters, social service agencies, and some who are living on the streets. On that day we operate with limited running water that serves to clean our tools and hands only. Outside of that, we only serve targeted groups through a shelter, agency or school.”
The foundation has proudly served the populations of several organizations in the area like AA Co. Foster Parent Association, Sarah’s House in Fort Meade, Lighthouse in Annapolis and in Baltimore, Agape House, St. Vincent’s Center and Helping Up Mission to name just a few.
Cradle describes the easy application process: “Agencies go to our website to complete an online assessment. It acts as a way to identify what projects that we will address. My Board of Directors and I typically select projects that we believe our current and new donors would be interested in underwriting. There is no real limit on location. As long as we can obtain the resources first, we will address it.”
The foundation recently expanded its grooming services to the canine community when they partnered with Senior Dog Sanctuary of Maryland providing the rescue facility with a new, state-of-the-art grooming station to make for many happy, adoptable pups.
A professional barber can be found volunteering at MacArthur Middle School on Tuesday afternoons during regular school days, from 2:40-3:40 p.m. There is also a stylist there on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the same time. The installation of equipment began in September and was completed by October. The MacArthur Grooming Project officially opened Nov. 7 and has provided haircuts to 11 students thus far.
“Once the students saw that the initial children received good haircuts and hairstyles they relaxed and became excited to receive services if they needed them, and the teachers are excited because they recognized that it was a project that would remove a barrier to learning,” Cradle said. “Students are shut down or are made fun of when their hair is not groomed. This leads to lower class participation and class disruptions, respectively.”
The foundation currently represents the United States as an agent for an aid organization providing grooming training for people in underdeveloped countries. For more information about the work Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation does, or to volunteer your services, please visit the website: www.therbcf.com or email Rob Cradle at rcradle@rbcf.org.
“Since we began, our projects have provided over 23,000 grooming services to 13,000 unduplicated individuals,” Cradle said. “We have installed 16 barbershops and/or beauty salons in agencies and schools for populations who lack access to grooming.”
To submit news for Severn, Hanover, Jessup, Harmans, Ft. Meade and Maryland City contact Sharon P. Schultz at pinkladysps@gmail.com.
